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What Are Macros? Everything You Need To Know | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
What are macros? Our expert nutritionist breaks down what macros are, and how to incorporate macros into a balanced diet.
Macros (or macronutrients) are everywhere in nutrition. You’ve got the “if it fits your macros” diet, you’ve got "macro-friendly" recipes and you’ve got "macro splits". In this video, expert nutritionist, Richie Kirwan talks about the basic properties of each macronutrient.
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0:00
so you want to know all about macros but
0:01
don't know where to start let's talk
0:03
about that
0:06
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:08
kirwan and today we're going to learn
0:09
all about macros what they are where
0:12
they come from and how to use them to
0:14
eat more in line with your physique and
0:16
health goals macros are everywhere in
0:19
nutrition these days you've got the if
0:21
it fits your macros diet you've got
0:22
macro-friendly recipes and you've got
0:24
macro splits which by the way are pretty
0:27
useless practically and i'll get around
0:28
to explaining why in another video the
0:30
word macro is short for macronutrients
0:34
macro comes from the greek word for
0:36
large and this is because macronutrients
0:38
are nutrients that we get in large
0:40
amounts like amounts that we can measure
0:42
in grams on the other hand we have
0:44
micronutrients like vitamins and
0:46
minerals which we get in very small
0:48
amounts like milligrams and even
0:50
micrograms there are four main
0:53
macronutrients or macros protein fats
0:56
carbs and alcohol and a well-balanced
0:58
diet will generally have a mix of the
1:00
first three with the alcohol being
1:02
optional all the macros are very
1:03
different from each other in terms of
1:05
their properties but each macro is
1:07
actually made up of a pretty diverse
1:09
group of related but different molecules
1:12
first let's talk about the basic
1:14
properties of each of the main
1:15
macronutrients we'll start with
1:17
everybody's favorite macro protein the
1:18
word protein derives from the greek word
1:21
protos which means of prime importance
1:23
and that has a lot to do with protein's
1:25
essential role in a whole host of
1:28
processes in your body in terms of
1:30
calories one gram of protein provides
1:32
four calories of energy proteins are
1:34
actually made of long chains of smaller
1:36
molecules called amino acids the word
1:38
amino comes from the fact that all amino
1:40
acids contain an amine group which
1:43
contains nitrogen with protein being the
1:45
only macronutrient that contains
1:48
nitrogen there are 22 amino acids in
1:50
human nutrition
1:51
nine of which are considered essential
1:54
because they cannot be formed in the
1:56
human body and therefore we have to get
1:57
them from our food the human body needs
2:00
amino acids in specific ratios in the
2:02
body protein is necessary for growth and
2:05
repair of various tissues
2:06
honestly your whole body is just made of
2:09
protein in different forms because it's
2:11
used to form your skin your hair your
2:13
bone ligaments and tendons and of course
2:16
your muscle in this sense protein has an
2:18
incredibly important structural function
2:20
on top of that protein is essential for
2:23
the formation of enzymes hormones
2:25
antibodies and other signaling chemicals
2:27
in your body in fact all of them are
2:30
proteins with very specific chemical
2:32
functions our bodies are actually very
2:34
complex protein based machines that's
2:37
how important protein is in reality all
2:40
whole foods have some protein in them
2:42
but the amount of protein can vary
2:44
hugely for example 100 grams of lean
2:46
steak can have about 25 grams of protein
2:49
whereas 100 grams of broccoli has only
2:51
about 3 grams of protein the amount of
2:53
calories that comes with different
2:54
sources of protein can also vary hugely
2:56
too one of the highest quality proteins
2:58
available is milk protein which includes
3:00
whey and casein they're considered high
3:02
quality because their content of
3:03
essential amino acids especially leucine
3:05
as well as their very easy digestion
3:07
other excellent sources of animal
3:09
protein include eggs fish and lean meats
3:12
and great sources of plant protein
3:13
include tofu and textured vegetable
3:14
protein made from soy beans corn which
3:17
is made from microprotein derived from a
3:18
type of fungus and legumes like beans
3:21
peas and lentils you can also get some
3:22
protein from grains like wheat oats and
3:25
barley and pseudograins like quinoa and
3:27
nuts and seeds but they tend to come
3:29
with far more calories than other
3:31
sources that i've already mentioned so
3:32
they probably shouldn't be the main
3:34
sources of protein in most people's diet
3:36
in terms of how much protein you should
3:38
eat that depends on your goals but as a
3:40
general rule aiming for a minimum of 1.2
3:44
grams of protein per kilogram of body
3:45
weight is probably a good place to start
3:47
if you're trying to build more muscle
3:49
more protein can help with muscle growth
3:51
and from 1.6 to 2.4 grams of protein or
3:54
more per kilogram of body weight per day
3:57
can be useful next up are fats or lipids
4:00
with one gram of fat providing nine
4:02
calories of energy fat is the most
4:05
energy dense of the macronutrients that
4:06
means that a small amount of fat can
4:08
provide the same amount of energy as a
4:10
much larger quantity of protein or
4:12
carbohydrate for clarification both fats
4:15
and oils are lipids and have the same
4:17
caloric value fats are simply lipids
4:20
that are solid at room temperature for
4:22
example butter and oils are lipids that
4:24
are liquid at room temperature for
4:26
example olive oil for this video i'm
4:28
just going to call them all fats fats
4:30
are made up of chains of carbon atoms
4:32
called fatty acids three fatty acids
4:34
chemically joined to a molecule of
4:36
glycerol form a lipid molecule hence the
4:38
other name for fats triglycerides fatty
4:41
acids vary a lot in length and in the
4:43
number of double bonds that they contain
4:45
and this alters the properties of the
4:47
fats as well saturated fatty acids
4:49
generally come from animal sources like
4:51
the fat in and on red meat and in dairy
4:54
foods and eggs but they come from plant
4:56
sources too like coconut and palm oils
4:58
which are actually solid below a certain
5:00
temperature unsaturated fatty acids can
5:02
be found in foods such as olive oil
5:05
avocados almonds and other tree nuts
5:07
sunflower seeds peanuts and most common
5:10
vegetable oils flax seeds walnuts
5:12
pumpkin seeds and oily fish fats have a
5:15
lot of different functions in human
5:16
nutrition they form the membranes around
5:18
every cell in our body so they have a
5:20
structural role they're concentrated
5:21
energy sources which means they act as a
5:23
very efficient form of energy storage
5:25
otherwise known as body fat and they
5:27
help us to absorb the fat soluble
5:29
vitamins a d e and k and essential fatty
5:32
acids play important roles in the immune
5:33
system and inflammatory responses where
5:35
the balance of omega-3 omega-6 is really
5:38
important when it comes to how much fat
5:39
you should have in your diet it really
5:41
depends on personal preference and if
5:43
you're a competitive athlete or not if
5:44
you prefer more fat in your diet it's
5:46
fine to have a higher fat diet and you
5:48
can still lose or maintain weight on a
5:50
high fat diet as long as you adjust your
5:52
calories accordingly one thing to point
5:54
out though is that very low fat diets
5:57
can have side effects like a lack of
5:59
energy poor physical performance and a
6:01
decrease in sex hormones which can even
6:03
lead to a loss of libido or sex drive
6:05
now nobody wants that so make sure your
6:08
fat intake doesn't drop below 0.6 grams
6:11
per kilogram of body weight per day for
6:12
an extended period which is more than a
6:14
few weeks as a rule of thumb just
6:17
subtract 100 from your height in
6:19
centimeters and that'll give you a good
6:21
daily minimum fat intake in grams so if
6:23
you're say 180 centimeters tall take 100
6:26
from that and that gives you 80 grams of
6:28
fat per day as a rough minimum to aim
6:30
for next up carbohydrates or carbs one
6:32
gram of carbohydrates provides four
6:34
calories of energy meaning they have the
6:36
same energy content as protein carbs
6:38
just like the other macronutrients are
6:39
made up of smaller molecules joined
6:41
together the basic units of carbs are
6:43
monosaccharides or simple sugars which
6:46
join together to form disaccharides two
6:48
simple sugars or polysaccharides which
6:50
are multiple molecules of simple sugars
6:53
the three most common simple sugars are
6:54
glucose fructose and galactose different
6:57
combination of these sugars produce
6:58
different polysaccharides there is no
7:00
minimum requirement for carbohydrates in
7:02
your diet as they are not considered
7:04
essential but don't let that statement
7:06
fool you just because something isn't
7:07
essential doesn't mean that it doesn't
7:09
have benefits think about whatever
7:10
you're watching this video on your phone
7:12
or tablet or laptop none of those are
7:14
essential for your life but i bet you
7:16
can do a lot of cool things with them
7:18
same goes for carbs primary function
7:20
that carbohydrate has in the body is to
7:22
act as an energy source a role that can
7:24
also be carried out by protein and fat
7:26
if necessary however if you don't have
7:28
enough carbohydrate high intensity
7:30
exercise performance such as
7:31
weightlifting or endurance exercise can
7:33
take a dive virtually all competitive
7:36
athletes benefit from having carbs in
7:38
their diets either around training times
7:40
or for competitions you can still
7:42
perform well on lower carb diets but
7:44
carbs definitely give athletes the
7:47
competitive edge in fact some athletes
7:49
can have as many as 12 grams of carbs
7:51
per kilogram of body weight per day for
7:53
a 70 kilogram athlete that's 840 grams
7:56
of carbs daily or more in terms of your
7:58
own diet i usually tell people to use
8:00
the remainder of their calories after
8:02
they've calculated protein and fat for
8:04
their carb intake some people prefer
8:06
more carbs and less fat some people
8:08
prefer more fat and fewer carbs honestly
8:10
for most people it doesn't matter if
8:12
you're a competitive athlete don't skimp
8:13
the carbs though sources of simple
8:15
sugars include fruits table sugar honey
8:18
juices and you can get starch from
8:19
cereals and cereal products potatoes
8:21
bread legumes like beans peas and
8:24
starchy vegetables like pumpkins at this
8:26
point i also want to mention fiber which
8:28
is technically a carb but it's mostly
8:30
indigestible by humans that said in the
8:32
small intestine our gut bacteria can
8:34
ferment fiber and produce short chain
8:36
fatty acids which we can get some energy
8:38
from high fiber foods have been shown to
8:40
have a multitude of health benefits like
8:43
improving blood sugar control reducing
8:45
our cholesterol levels feeding our gut
8:46
bacteria keeping us feeling fuller for
8:48
longer and helping to keep us regular
8:51
sources of fiber include whole grain
8:53
cereals legumes fruit and vegetables and
8:55
for more information on the benefits of
8:57
fiber check out my fiber video here
8:59
finally i'm just going to mention
9:01
alcohol which has seven calories per
9:03
gram making it the second most calorie
9:05
dense macro next to fat besides being a
9:08
source of energy alcohol doesn't have
9:11
any other health benefits so i'm not
9:12
going to say much more other than it
9:14
shouldn't make up a very large part of
9:16
your daily calorie intake a great way to
9:18
learn about the macro content of the
9:20
foods you eat is to use a macro tracking
9:22
app it can help to teach you how much of
9:24
each macronutrient you're currently
9:26
eating and give you an idea of where you
9:28
might be able to improve your diet and
9:30
if you want to learn how to alter your
9:32
macros to help you with either your
9:34
muscle gain or fat loss goals check out
9:36
my other videos on these topics
9:39
another really great thing about
9:40
understanding macros and what foods they
9:42
come in is that it helps you to look at
9:44
foods in a more neutral way what i mean
9:46
by that is that it's really easy for
9:47
some foods to get a healthy or diet
9:49
friendly reputation and for them to be
9:51
known as good foods while other foods
9:53
get the reputation of being bad foods
9:56
when you understand calories and macros
9:58
and how they affect health performance
10:00
and weight loss you begin to understand
10:01
that you can still include a lot of your
10:03
favorite foods in your diet it teaches
10:05
you to think more critically of the food
10:07
you eat instead of just accepting silly
10:09
good or bad labels that diet industry
10:12
has put on food that ability to think
10:14
critically gives you a lot more freedom
10:17
with the food you eat and that's a
10:18
really good thing for your mental health
10:21
so did that clear everything up about
10:22
macros as always if you have any
10:24
questions let me know in the comments
10:25
below and remember to like and subscribe
10:27
to the my protein youtube channel for
10:29
more great evidence-based nutrition
10:31
information
10:34
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